Firefighter killed responding to I-39 wreck

HUDSON, Ill. (AP) -- Authorities say a central Illinois firefighter was killed and five of his colleagues injured when a tractor-trailer hit three emergency vehicles.

The emergency responders were working at the scene of a previous freeway accident at the time. The name of the dead firefighter from the village of Hudson hasn't been released.

McLean County Coroner Beth Kimmerling says that at about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, emergency responders were dispatched to a multiple-vehicle wreck on southbound Interstate 39 near Hudson.

An hour later, a southbound tractor-trailer hauling a load of automobiles lost control and hit three of the emergency vehicles belonging to the Hudson Community Fire Protection District and the Illinois State Police.